University of Idaho head men’s basketball coach Alex Pribble officially announced the hiring of Adam Ellis as assistant coach.
Ellis joins the Idaho men’s basketball staff after spending three seasons as an assistant coach at Cal-State San Marcos. During his tenure, Ellis was part of a CCAA tournament championship, the first NCAA tournament win in school history and two 20+ win seasons.
In his final year at San Marcos, the Cougars finished runner-up in the tournament championship after finishing with a 20-11 overall record and a 17-5 conference mark. They went on to receive a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament Regional and post a 72-62 win over Azusa Pacific in the quarterfinals.
In 2021-22, Ellis helped the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament, earning a No. 1 seed in the West Region and finishing the year ranked No. 6/9 in the top 25 poll.
A former assistant coach at Saint Martin’s University, Ellis spent three seasons under Pribble, helping the Saints to a 68-27 (.716) overall record, two consecutive 20-win seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Saints reached the Sweet 16 and posted a 26-6 overall record and a 17-3 mark in the GNAC in his final season (2018-19).
Prior to Saint Martin’s, Ellis spent four seasons as the head coach at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon.
Ellis got his start in collegiate coaching at Eastern Washington University as a student assistant in 2009 where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science. He went on to earn a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration in 2012 at Concordia Irvine.
Before getting his start in collegiate coaching, he played two seasons of college basketball at Spokane Community College.
An Oakesdale, Wash. native, Ellis graduated from Oakesdale High School in 2002. He and his wife Emily have two kids, Jett and Addison.
